1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally relates to treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (IHSS), and more particularly, relates to percutaneous treatment of HCM and IHSS using laser ablation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The symptoms of IHSS and HCM have been known for some time in the medical community. With either disease, an enlargement of the tissue of the chamber wall within the heart serves to interfere with normal cardiac function. In addition to the standard treatments for impaired cardiac function, the problem has been addressed surgically. Andrew G. Morrow, M.D., et al. discusses such a surgical approach in "Operative Treatment in Idiopathic Hypertropic Subaortic Stenosis", Circulation Volume XXXVII, Apr. 1968, pages 589-596. Though the clinical results of Morrow et al. appear to be promising, they warn that care must be exercised because an effective operation requires that the knife must be "plunged into the septum until it is out of sight, completely.
The problem of performing the cardiomyoplasty is in part resolved by Jeffrey M. Isner, M.D., et al., in "Laser Myoplasty for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy", American Journal of Cardiology, Volume 53, 1984, pages 1620-1625. Isner et al. teach the accomplishment of the procedure by the technique of photoablation using an argon laser. However, the main difficulty with the techniques of Morrow et al., and Isner et al., is the requirement to perform a thoractomy. The difficulty of performing a thoractomy and the added mortality is well known.